I have a lot of favorites by the way. If I like it more than a little, it's a favorite. But this really is an absolute favorite sculpture. It's a gem in the Louvre collection, and represents one of my FAVORITE myths-that of Cupid (or love) and Psyche.
See, (feel free to skip this paragraph if you don't want a mythology lesson)once there was a king with three beautiful daughters, but the most beautiful was the youngest, Psyche. She was so pretty that people began to ignore their real lady love, Venus. She was jealous (as always) and asked her son Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with a horrible monster. But upon seeing her, upid dropped the arrow, pricked himself and fell madly in love with her.
Even though she was beautiful, no one wanted to marry Psyche, and her parents were told her beauty was too great for mortal men. They took her to the top of a mountain where the wind carried her away to a palace where she was waited on by invisible servants, and loved by an invisible husband-who only came to her by night, and only on the condition that she must NEVER try to see him.
Psyche grew homesick, and in her loneliness begged, and finally persuaded her husband to allow her sisters to visit. They were jealous and convinced her to sneak a peak. When she did, she was so surprised to see the beauty of her godly husband, and dropped some of the wax of her candle onto his shoulder, waking him. He fled-unable to trust her-and she began wandering endlessly, searching for him. She begged Venus for help, and Venus agreed-giving Psyche task upon painful and arduous task to accomplish. So tiring were the tasks that Psyche died, Cupid came along, and with a kiss, revived her.
Zeus decides that they can be united, and she become immortal: And they lived happily ever after.
A story of love (at long last) lived happily.
Don't you love it? I remember seeing it for the first time. I fell in love with it.
Not only is the story beautiful, but LOOK AT THIS! It's so well designed-every curve takes you back to the focal point of their faces-their lips. *sigh* it's just beautiful. I can hardly get enough. I hope you like it.
Stay tuned for more stories of love. Next time: love unanswered, in fact, rejected in the most harsh of ways.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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2 comments:
It's amazing to think that those wings, those curls, and those gentle fingers were lovingly carved from stone. A lovely story and a lovely statue that seems ready to burst to life at any moment.
Gorgeous.
And I'm a fan of the art history and mythology lessons. Keep em' coming!
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